In support of improving the quality of snowfall, snow depth and water equivalent observations, the National Weather Service in conjunction with Colorado State University, has rewritten guidelines for measurement of snowfall and snow depth by official NWS cooperative weather observers. The new, more concise guidelines, with funding provided by NOAA’s Environmental Service s Data and Information Management (ESDIM) Program, are presented.

The new guidelines will help improve the quality of snow observations coming from this important meteorological and climatological U.S. network. It is also hoped that the new guidelines will be considered for use by a wide variety of private and government snow measurement observers, allowing for more standardized observations and resulting in more accurate collection, comparison, and analysis of inter-network snow data.

#Colorado Climate Center
Department of Atmospheric Science
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80523-1371
Tel: (970) 491-8545, Fax: (970) 491-8449, E-mail: nolan@ulysses.atmos.colostate.edu